The limitation with current mirroring technologies is that heterogeneous operating system platforms (e.g., Apple®, Google® Android™, Microsoft® Windows®) are unable to mirror content to a single content receiver. Apple® iOS® mobile computing devices can use the AirPlay® protocol to mirror content to devices such as the Apple TV, which can be connected to a screen such as a TV. Similarly, other device platforms (e.g. Android, Windows) can currently make use of technologies such as Chromecast, Google Cast™, Miracast®, DNLA, Mirrorop and Airtame to achieve mirroring for their relevant platforms.
It is commonly known that people often need to present content from their computing devices. A typical example of content presentation is a user with his or her computer/laptop connected to a projector in a meeting room, classroom or any type of venue that has an external display. The user has the need to show others, or generally visualize, the screen contents of their device on an external display. An external display can be a projector or a TV or any device connectable to a laptop/computer. This situation requires the laptop/computer to be physically connected with a cable. In other cases the receiver or “receiving device” may be built in/embedded in a TV or projector, or in a dongle running receiver software. When many people are presenting, switching from one user to another requires the cable to be disconnected from one laptop/computer and connected to the laptop/computer of the person who needs to present content. This method of presenting is considered suboptimal for the following reasons: disconnecting and connecting are physical operations, and the sound from the device is not projectable to the external display. In general, these problems are solved with a technology called screen mirroring.
Mirroring is an umbrella term for a group of wireless technologies that facilitate the projection of what you see and hear on a sending device or computer to a receiving device's display and speakers.
Apple has implemented a mirroring solution through its AirPlay® protocol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPlay#AirPlay_Mirroring), Apple's iPhone® (as of version 4S) and iPad® mobile devices (both of which run the iOS operating system) are capable AirPlay sending devices and Apple's Apple TV® digital media extender is a capable receiver. Apple TV is a hardware solution while other receivers, such as AirServer, can do the same as a software solution. Airplay requires the sending and receiving devices to be connected to the same wireless network in order to work.
Other vendors that utilize Microsoft Windows or Google Android operating systems are making use of different solutions such as Miracast (http://en wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracast) or Chromecast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromecast). To mirror devices from these vendors, one needs a Miracast or Chromecast capable sending device such as an Android mobile computing device (e.g. a mobile phone or tablet), or a Windows device, such as a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, and a Miracast/Chromecast capable receiver. Such receivers can be a Miracast/Chromecast dongle (a small device plugged into the HDMI port of a TV set) or a TV set with a built-in Miracast receiver. Miracast does not require the sending device and the receiver to be connected to the same wireless network in order to work. Using Miracast, one can simply mirror from the sending device to the receiving device directly.
Both Apple TV and typical Miracast receiving devices only allow for one device to send to the receiver at each time. There exists no solution that allows an AirPlay sending device and a Miracast sending device to be connected to the same receiver at the same time. This is because there exists no receiver capable of receiving mirroring from multiple heterogeneous platforms simultaneously. This requires a user to decide whether to mirror only Apple iOS devices using an AirPlay receiver or only Miracast capable sending devices using a Miracast receiver. The downside of this is that users with Miracast capable sending devices are excluded from mirroring if one has chosen to use an AirPlay based receiver, and vice versa.
There is a need for a device which allows a single content receiver to receive mirroring streams from multiple heterogeneous platforms. While many industries permit their people to “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) to work, the lack of a receiver capable of handling heterogeneous mirroring streams means that not all devices can be used equally and effectively.